


Number Eight and The Boy

by discopigs



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:54:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25594621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/discopigs/pseuds/discopigs
Summary: Juliet has been estranged from the Hargreeves family since she was fourteen-years-old, but with the news of Reginald's death and the return of an old flame she thought she'd lost forever, she soon finds herself thrown back into the strange world of the Umbrella Academy.five hargreeves x original female character.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy)/Original Female Character(s), Number Five | The Boy/Original Character(s)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 176





	1. part one

Juliet slowly rubbed the sleep from her eyes and squinted as the harsh morning light filtered through the Venetian blinds. The battered, old Elvis alarm clock that came with the apartment (along with a bunch of broken plastic garden chairs) croaked out its usual tune, signifying that morning had broken. She was now alert enough to realize that it was 6am and a Monday. She accepted her fate and sighed.

Dragging her weary body out of the comfort of her mattress, she resigned herself to getting dressed for the early morning rush. Morning was such a busy time at the diner, everybody hurrying to get their caffeine fix and donuts to prepare them for the slog of office work, or manual labor, or whatever it was that saw them up and ready at the crack of dawn.

She took one last glance in the mirror before leaving; her pink uniform and styled hair seemed to age her, and the thought of this was troubling. She hated birthdays and getting older. Every year that passed she couldn't help but think how she was another year further from the girl she used to be. It took her further away from the boy she had once loved.

He was always the first thing she thought about in the morning, and the last thing she thought about at night. She thought about how every day it was getting harder and harder to picture him in her mind, the way that he would smile that smile, the one he reserved only for her. She was an adult now, a young woman of twenty. She wonders what he would've looked like at this age.

Still. No point dwelling on the past. The present was calling. And it was calling in the form of hungry customers.

Shaking all thoughts of lost love from her mind, she exited the shoebox apartment she called home and stepped out into cold frost of the morning. She was thankful that the diner was only two blocks away; she didn't want to be outside too long in this weather.

The bell jingled as she pushed open the entrance door to the diner. Agnes greeted her warmly and waved her over politely from behind the counter. Juliet smiled back at her boss as she tied her apron around her waist.

"Sad news, eh?"

Juliet looked up from filling the percolator to glance over at a trio of businessmen reading the paper.

"Sad? That's debatable." The other man replied with a snort. He threw the paper down onto the counter, along with an assortment of change and thanked Juliet for the donuts.

She read the morning headline from the corner of her eye and had to take a double glance to make sure she had read it correctly.

_"Eccentric millionaire Reginald Hargreeves found dead."_


	2. part two;

"What's the date? The _exact_ date." Five huffed as he prepared his peanut butter jelly sandwich; in getting back to the pre-apocalypse timeline, he expended a lot of energy, and he needed his strength back, and quickly if he was gonna pull this whole thing off.

"March the twenty-fourth." Vanya replied, hesitantly.

Five hungrily tore into his sandwich. "Good."

"So... are you gonna explain what just happened?" Allison asked.

He paused mid chew to scoff at her. "As if you would understand if I did."

"Try us." Diego retorted, boldly.

Number five sighed. "I projected my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time, opening up a temporal anomaly in the spacetime continuum, regressing my physical form back 40 years or so, give or take, which finally brought me back here to the academy."

"Wow..." Klaus murmured. "You're right. I didn't understand that at all."

Five shot him a sardonic smile. "Told ya."

"Okay, lets go back a bit." Luther pinched the bridge of his nose as he spoke, trying to understand Five's words. "First of all, where have you been the last six years?"

"It's been a lot longer than that." Five laughed bitterly. "I've spent the last thirty eight years in the future. It's shit, by the way."

"Called it!" Klaus exclaimed.

Five took his dirty suit jacket off and slung it haphazardly over a chair. The Hargreeves siblings stiffened at his casual demeanour; it was like he'd never left. 

"And you got back by opening up this temporal thingy." Diego chimed in, trying to help piece everything together.

"Temporal thingy." Five nodded. "That is the technical term, yes."

"And you look our age despite apparently being fifty eight now?"

"My body has taken on the form that I would've had had I remained in this timeline, but my consciousness is fifty eight." Five replied.

"Anyone else getting a headache trying to understand this?" Klaus spoke with his head in his hands. "I'm thinking I'm gonna need to self medicate soon or something."

"So you went to the future and now you're back." Vanya clarified, ignoring Klaus. "Why?"

"Guess I missed the funeral, huh?" Five abruptly changed the subject as he picked up the newspaper, the front-page entirely consumed by the announcement of his father's death. "Was Number Eight there?" He asked quietly, not looking up from the broadsheet.

The other five siblings glanced at each other uneasily. Number eight was but one of many sore subjects for the Hargreeves.

"No." Allison said, hesitantly. "Why would she be there?"

Five visibly deflated. "And none of you have heard from her in the last six years?"

Five's question was met with an awkward silence.

"You remember what happened, don't you? She ran away, Five." Luther sighed, reaching out to pat his brother on the arm.

Five rebuffed Luther's attempt to comfort him. "You seriously still believe that?" Five scoffed.

"What reason do we have to believe otherwise?" Luther replied. "She left without contacting any of us for six years."

Five unceremoniously dropped his sandwich on the table and brushed the bread crumbs off his hands. "A fourteen-year-old girl disappears without a trace and that's not weird to you? Guess the old man really had his hooks in you deep."

Luther visibly bristled at Five's harsh words; Number Eight's disappearance was a constant reminder of his failure not only as a brother, but as a leader too.

"Nice to see nothing's changed." Five murmured as he headed towards the door.

"Wait, that's it? That's all you have to say?" Allison called after him.

"What else is there to say? Circle of life." Five shouted back over his shoulder.

He sighed wearily as he wandered the corridor in search of his room; after thirty-eight years away, the layout of the house was slightly hazy in his mind. He chose a random door, twisted the handle and tentatively pushed the door open.

The realisation of which room he was in hit him like a punch to the stomach.

There was a thick layer of dust over all of her things; the room had clearly not been touched since she'd left. Five had time travelled many times at this point, but being in her room again after so many years away was like stepping into another world. Five picked up the photo frame that was sat on the windowsill. It was a picture of the two of them together, arms around each other, beaming for the camera. Simpler times.

Unprepared for the all the buried emotions seeing her room dug up, Five quickly exited her bedroom and slammed the door behind him. He leaned back against the door as his knees buckled and he fell to the floor of the hallway.  
He fished out a gold locket from inside his suit jacket and clicked it open.

"I'll find you." He said, his eyes burning with determination as he stared at the tiny picture inside. "I promise I'll fine you."

Meanwhile, outside in the rain stood a girl in a pink uniform, clutching onto the handle of her umbrella, debating on whether or not she should knock on the door of the house in front of her. She shook her head and sighed, her kitten heals carefully avoiding the puddles on the sidewalk as walked down the street, away from the academy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note; for anyone confused about the timeline, I have changed it a bit. The characters were born in 1999 instead of 1989, Number Five disappeared when he was 14 in 2013, and he's now 20 years old in 2019.


	3. part three;

**October 1st, 2013.**

_Dear diary,_

_It's my birthday! As of today, I am officially fourteen-years-old! Although we don't really do birthdays in our house, I'm still really excited to be another year older. Some people don't like getting old, but I can't wait till I'm all grown up. I'll be able to do what I want, when I want, with whoever I want..._

_Vanya gave me this diary I am currently writing in as a gift! I gave her a collage I made of the two of us on a picnic from last month. Sometimes when the others are out on missions, we like to distract ourselves by doing cartwheels in the park or going to the arcade by the pier._

_We're never allowed out on missions; Vanya doesn't have a power, and my ability to heal is "purely a defensive one", or so Dad says... It's only really useful for fixing up the others when they get wounded. But speaking of missions..._

_Even though it's our birthday, the academy's work doesn't stop. Apart_ from _myself and Vanya, everyone else is out thwarting a bank heist! Can you even imagine!_

 _I'm super worried about five. The last mission was only last week, and he came to me in a terrible state. He got caught in the crossfire of one of Diego's knives... Ouch. But my power is growing every day, so after I saw to him, he was okay. Still. Every time I see him in pain, my heart lurches in my chest. I'll never get used to the sight of it. I want to comfort_ _him, tell him it's all alright, but lately he_ _just brushes me off. He's never been the most affectionate person in the world; he's not like Vanya who loves hugs, or Klaus who loves piggybacks. But because we've always been inseparable, he usually endured it for my sake. However, lately he's been distant. Distracted. I hope it's not something I've done. We've always been so close, I'd hate to lose him..._

"Number Eight, are ya decent?"

Eight jumped out of her skin as Number Five appeared in the centre of her room with a crack of blue light. She yelled at the intrusion and abruptly slammed the book shut. He hadn't knocked, but he at least had the decency to cover his eyes with his hand. 

Eight rolled her eyes, "I'm decent, can't say the same for you, asshole." She giggled.

Five opened his eyes, saw her and smiled. 

"So... what's broken and what's bleeding?" She asked, standing up from the desk, preparing to heal him. 

Five shook his head. "I'm not here for that." 

Eight could feel her heartbeat in her ears. "Oh?"

He rocked back and forth on his heels with a smirk on his face. He pulled his other hand out from behind his back and offered her a small black box with a white bow on top. "Happy birthday, Number Eight."

She was lost for words; five had bought her a gift? Was she dreaming?

She carefully opened the box and gasped at its contents. 

"I know that with the whole tattoo thing you felt left out, so..." Five scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile on his face. 

In the box lay a beautiful locket with an umbrella design intricately carved into silver. 

"Oh five. It's beautiful..." She gushed. 

Juliet clicked the locket open; inside was a tiny photo of the two of them together taken inside a photo booth at the mall; she had begged him to take goofy pictures with her and he didn't have the heart to say no. 

"I love it, Five. Thank you." She smiled as he stared at his feet, his face a furious shade of red. She wanted to hug him, but she knew he would only tense up like he always seemed to do recently, so she held back and respected his boundaries. 

"Let me put it on you?" He offered. 

She nodded and turned around, pushing her hair to one side to allow him access to the clasp of the necklace. She tried to suppress the shiver that ran through her body as his fingers lightly brushed against the nape of her neck. He was so close she could feel his breath on her skin, causing her to break out in goosebumps. 

The locket had been fastened around her neck; she smiled as she twisted the pendant round so the front was visible. Despite the task's completion, Five stood frozen in place. Eight looked over her shoulder and up into his sparkling, aquamarine eyes. A thoughtful look was etched upon his face, and she could only wonder what it was that he was thinking.

Before she had time to contemplate this further, there was a sudden flash of blue light and they found themselves standing on the rooftop of the academy, the cityscape sprawled out beneath them.

Five laughed as she clutched her forehead in an attempt to get her vision to stop spinning.

"You get used to it." He chuckled.

"Will I? Are you planning on whisking me away more than once?"

A strange silence fell between the two of them. They sat down together side by side on the roof, their legs dangling off the edge. The chill of the night breeze set in and Eight shivered involuntarily.

"Here," Five offered her his suit jacket, enveloping her in it before she could protest.

"Thank you." She replied, resting her head against his shoulder.

"Look at the night sky!" She gasped with delight as she gazed at the stars.

"Beautiful." Five whispered, though he wasn't looking at the sky.

"Y'know, as much as I love my locket, I feel bad that I didn't get you anything. It is your birthday too, after all."

Five nervously cleared his throat. "Well, I mean... there is something I want. Something I've wanted for a long time, actually."

Number Eight looked up at him. "Oh yeah?" She asked, the curiosity evident in her voice.

"I just didn't have the guts to ask. So I tried keeping my distance. But I don't wanna do that anymore."

"Oh, Five." Eight whispered. She sat up to look at him properly; he stared at his hands in his lap before turning to meet her strong gaze.

The tension grew as they closed the distance between them, until very slowly and carefully, Five pressed his lips to hers.

The kiss was soft, chaste, and innocent. It completely set her heart aflutter.

He was kissing her. Five was actually kissing her! She couldn't help but smile into the kiss. They paused for breath and he let out a gentle laugh, their foreheads resting against one another.

"Number Eight? Number Five?"

They instantly backed away from each other at the sound of Pogo's voice. Juliet could feel her heart drop into her stomach at the realisation that they had been caught.

"W-we can explain." She stood rooted to spot, paralysed with fear of their imminent punishment.

"Yes?" Pogo asked, prompting an explanation he knew she didn't have.

"Ok, well maybe we can't but..." She admitted. "Please don't tell anyone. Please. It won't happen again, we swear." She looked back at Number Five for support and he hesitantly nodded his agreement.

Eight looked up at Pogo with her best puppy dog eyes; she had always been considered the baby of the family, and usually got what she wanted if she pouted enough (Reginald being the only exception to this.)

Pogo finally tore his eyes away from hers and sighed. "I suppose, if you truly mean what you say... I'm willing to forget what I saw-"

Number Eight's face broke out into a wide grin.

"On the grounds that this never ever happens again. You know your father would never approve."

She nodded solemnly.

There was an awkward silence for a while until Pogo bid them goodnight and promptly left, with deep reservations about the agreement that had just been made.

As soon as Pogo was gone, Number Five surprised her by immediately taking her into his arms.

"But what about...?"

Five smiled slyly. "We'll just have to be more careful next time."


	4. part four;

"Agnes?" Juliet called out from the back room of the diner, shoving her set of keys into her coat pocket.

"Oh, there you are, hun." Agnes smiled as she looked up from cleaning her workstation. 

"Hey listen, I'm sorry about bailing this afternoon. Something... came up." Juliet sighed. "I don't mind doing the night shift to make up for it." 

"Oh are you sure, Jules? I won't mind if you need to take more time off to deal with personal matters." 

Juliet smiled; Agnes had always been so kind to her. Sometimes she wasn't sure where she'd be without her. 

"It's okay, I could use the distraction if I'm honest." Juliet replied. 

"Well, if you're sure. I could use a night off myself." She laughed as she untied her apron. 

"It's a slow night, just one customer back there who only seems to want coffee, so it shouldn't be too bad. I’d keep an eye on that sink, though."

With a kiss on the cheek and a reminder to lock up at the end of the night, Agnes was gone, leaving Juliet on her own. 

Juliet heard the bell above the door ring, so she grabbed the coffee pot with the intention to go out front and serve the customers. Suddenly the sink started gurgling and Juliet groaned. “Damn thing’s always clogged.” She grumbled to herself as she set the percolator down on the countertop and set about looking for the plunger. 

Juliet started to panic when she heard the bell above the door jingle again, signalling more customers. They’d soon start getting restless to be served, but there was no way she could just leave the sink in such a state. She made the snap decision to leave it and deal with the consequences later. She grabbed the coffee pot and her notepad and rounded the corner out of the kitchen and in to the diner itself. 

“Hey, sorry about that. Sink was-“ 

The pot slipped out of her grasp as her whole body went cold with shock. Every hair on her body stood on end, and it felt like electricity was coursing through her veins. She stopped to consider that maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her, that all the stress had caught up with her and finally sent her round the bend. She considered all of this, and yet... there he was. 

“Five?” She gasped. 

He looked up at her in surprise, clearly not expecting to see her stood there. She took this opportunity to drink him in, and assess every little detail and change in his appearance. He was older, for a start. 

Of course he would be older. It’s been years, she though to herself. 

He was taller, and leaner. He was wearing a dishevelled suit that didn’t seem to fit him right. His hair was slightly longer than she remembered it being, and his face seemed worn. Tired. Maybe even a little forlorn. 

But the one thing that aligned perfectly with her memory of him was his eyes. Those piercing blue eyes. They could be tranquil like the sky on a clear day, and they could rage like the sea during a storm. They were the most beautiful eyes she’d ever seen, and for years she thought she would never see them again. But here he was. 

“Number Eight,” he replied, breathlessly. 

The sudden sound of his voice cut through her train of thought like a knife, and with her new-found clarity she realised they were not alone, far from it. 

Five was surrounded by a swarm of armed men, all of which had their weapons pointed at him. 

She wanted to ask what was going on, who were these men, what did they want. There was so much she wanted to say but nothing came out. She simply stood there, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly like a fish out of water. 

There was a short silence before Five spoke again. 

“Get down!” 

Before she even had time to process what was happening, gunshots rang out through the diner. Juliet covered her ears at the obtrusive sound, and she sank to the floor as her legs gave way. Once she realised what was happening, she mustered the strength to peek over the counter to find Five. 

She saw him disappear and reappear around the room, moving with such grace and such ease. These men were highly trained, but he made them look like children. His body moved so fluidly and effortlessly as he ended each man’s life, one by one. It would be impressive if it weren’t so terrifying. 

The whole thing was over in a flash. There was one man left, lying on the floor helplessly, like an animal caught in a hunter’s trap. Five approached him slowly, like a predator. He reached over the counter and slipped the butter knife into his hand. The man was gurgling, choking on his own blood, his eyes pleading for mercy. Juliet looked away as he Five plunged the blunt knife into the man’s neck, ending his torment. 

“Number Eight?” Five called out. 

Juliet sat on the floor shivering. Her body was completely frozen; she couldn’t answer him even if she wanted to. 

He spotted her behind the counter and crouched down to speak to her. “Number Eight, are you hurt?” 

She shook her head. 

“Come on,” He offered his hand to help her up. “Let’s get out of here.” 

Juliet felt her head swim as he pulled her up from behind the counter. She averted her eyes from the floor which was now littered with bodies, as he led her to door. 

“Hold on a sec,” he said, walking back to the counter. Before she could even ask what he was doing, he took a knife to his own arm and cut a long, vertical slit. Juliet felt her stomach churn as his fingers dug into his own flesh. He pulled out a flashing device, and threw it behind the counter.

He ran back to where she stood at the doorway, took her hand in his own and smiled. “Come on, let’s get outta here.”


	5. part five;

Wordlessly, Juliet led Five away from Griddy’s Doughnuts and to her apartment as a place of safety. It was a relatively quiet and unassuming apartment complex, somewhere she hoped they wouldn’t find them. When they reached her front door, she found she couldn't stop her hands from shaking as she tried to fit her key into the lock.

"Let me?" Five spoke softly as he slowly took the keys out of her hand. He slotted the key into the lock and turned it, shoving the stiff door open with his shoulder. 

Juliet walked straight into the bathroom in a daze. Five shrugged and threw the keys onto the table by the door. 

Juliet opened the bathroom cabinet to get medical supplies for Five's wound. When she closed the cabinet, she caught her reflection in the mirror on the other side of the door; the side of her face was splattered with the blood of a stranger. She couldn't help but let out a sob at the sight. This morning she was just a waitress, now she was an accessory to murder. 

Five followed the sound of her sobbing into the bathroom, and instinctually wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. "Shh, it's okay." Five spoke in a gentle voice in an attempt to calm her. He buried his face in her shoulder and was surprised by how tightly she was hugging him back. 

"I-I'm so confused, I don't- how are you back? Who were those men? Why were they trying to hurt you?" 

Five slowly rubbed her back, the way he used to when they were kids. "It's okay, it's a lot to take in. I promise to tell everything you need to know, but only once you've calmed down." 

"What's with all that?" Five gestured towards the medical supplies, hoping to change the subject.

"You're bleeding." Juliet replied, dumbly. 

He cocked an eyebrow. "You're not going to..?" 

Five tried not to look too disappointed when she withdrew from his embrace. 

"I haven't done that in a long time." She admitted, quietly. 

"Why not?" 

Juliet hesitated. "I just... couldn't be Number Eight anymore." She replied, rubbing her arm awkwardly.

Five rolled up his sleeve and presented his arm to her, revealing the depth and severity of his self-inflicted wound, and she couldn’t help but flinch at the sight of it. 

"For old times sake?" He asked with a small smile. 

Juliet hesitated again before setting the medical supplies down on the counter, and then grasping Five's arm firmly. 

She breathed in deeply and slowly, focusing purely on his injury. She was always aware of the energy around her, and if she willed it to, she could redirect to wounds like these. With her free hand, she hovered over the wound, feeling the ebb and flow of her power knitting the fibres of his skin back together again. 

"It's been a long time since we were last in this position." Five remarked, sadly. 

Juliet acknowledged him with a mere hum of agreement.

"It still amazes me how you do that." 

Juliet looked up from her work to scoff at him. "Are you kidding? It's like the weakest power ever." 

"I've always thought it was the strongest." Five shrugged. 

She fixed him with a skeptic glance. "I can't exactly fend off an attacker by healing them to death." 

"Diego can cut people, Luther can crush em, Klaus can wave them off into the afterlife. I think your power is the only one that really helps people." 

Juliet could tell that he wasn’t just trying to make her feel better, and she tried not to blush at the sincerity of his compliment. She had always felt so weak compared to everyone else, but Five had never treated her like that. She’d almost forgotten how much she missed him, and the way he made her feel like she was worth so much more than anyone ever gave her credit for.

After a couple of minutes, the gash was gone, leaving behind no scar; it was as though the skin had never even been cut in the first place. 

Flexing the muscles of his arm, Five inspected the spot where the wound had been. "Stellar work as always, Number Eight." 

"Juliet." She corrected him. 

This seemed to throw him off. "Since when?" 

Since I didn't have a name for the first fourteen years of my life because you didn't have one, and I thought everything you did was just brilliant. Since I would've moved the stars and the moon in the sky for you and then we were torn apart and I thought I’d never love again Juliet thought to herself, too nervous to say it out loud. 

"Well, you can't put Number Eight on a job application, so..." She laughed. "That and, well... being called Number Eight made me think of you, and most of the time that was just too much... too much to bear..." 

"Juliet..." he mused. "I like it. It's pretty." 

She cupped the side of his face and his eyelids fluttered shut as he leaned into her palm. 

"You've got blood on you." Her fingers traced his jawline; when she pulled her hand away, it was stained red. 

"It's nothing." He said, quietly. 

She picked up a washcloth from beside the sink and ran it under the faucet. Taking his face in her hands again, she gently wiped the blood off. 

"You disappeared." She stated clearly. 

"So did you." He replied.

"Where did you go, Five?" 

"Where did you go?" He retorted. 

"I asked you first." 

Five sighed. "I travelled through time to the future and got stuck there." 

"Oh," Juliet stopped washing his face abruptly, dumbfounded at his confession. She definitely wasn't expecting that. "How long were you there for?" 

"Thirty-eight years." 

Juliet almost dropped the flannel. 

"Thirty-eight years?" She repeated, incredulously. "Oh, Five." She gasped, cradling his face with both hands. 

"How come you look my age?"

Five shrugged his shoulders. "Must've gotten the equations wrong. Still, I'm thankful that I'm looking at you through a young man's eyes.” He smiled, wistfully. “Feels like a dream I never wanna wake up from." 

"Five, I'm so sorry." She broke down and threw her arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder. 

"It's okay," he cooed, holding her close to his chest. "I'm here now, and that's what matters. Y'know I really thought I'd lost you forever. To just be here... holding you... I thought you'd left me..." Five's voice cracked as his sentence trailed off. 

"I didn't want to!" She cried, desperately. “You have to believe that I didn’t want to.”

"It's okay, I believe you." He rubbed her back again to reassure her.

She held him tighter for fear he’d disappear in front of her like a ghost. With her face pressed against his chest, she could hear the thump of his heart beating, proof that he was in fact here and it wasn’t some mad dream, and she committed the noise to memory. 

"Juliet... tell me what happened. Where did you go?"


	6. part six;

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> content warning: this chapter is pretty dark in terms of graphic violence, just a heads up

Although Five and Eight had intended to continue their budding romance in secret, it wasn't long before everybody in the house knew about it. For the Hargreeves household, Five and Eight's 'puppy love', as Klaus had called it, had gradually become yet another elephant in the room.

The shy glances, little touches, holding hands when they thought no one was looking. But they were. How could they not? Even Allison and Luther had been more discreet than this. 

Although they were very close before, they now spent every waking hour together, and then some; Five would appear in her room across the hall and they would stay up all night laughing, holding each other, just simply content with being in each other's presence. 

Reginald had caught them one night after following the giggles from down the corridor. He had ordered that all three of the girls were to be moved away from the boys rooms and into another wing on the opposite side of the house. Reginald knew that because of Five's spatial jumps, the move wouldn't prove to be an issue practically, but he hoped it would be taken seriously as a last warning, at least. 

The final straw eventually manifested itself as something else entirely. 

"Eight! Number Eight, where are you?!"

Number Eight sat up in bed at the sound of her voice. Someone was calling her. She pushed the covers away and padded downstairs in her pyjamas. 

"What's going on?" Number Eight yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Klaus? What's wrong?" 

Klaus stood alone in the doorway, mouth agape, completely unsure of what to say. Eight spotted the blood on his shirt and she felt a strange coldness wash over her body. 

Klaus moved out of the doorway at the sound of approaching footsteps. Allison hurried through the door, followed by Five, and then finally Diego and Luther. They were carrying something. Someone.

Ben. 

"Oh my god..." Eight whispered at the sight of Ben's bloody and torn body. She had to try not to gag at the sight. 

Eight had treated wounds before, sure. Cuts, burns, scrapes. The usual. The worst she'd ever seen was when Klaus broke his leg and the bone had pierced through the skin.

But this. 

Ben's entire torso was a gaping hole, completely devoid of where the vital organs should've been. She couldn't even understand how it could've happened, where Ben's organs could've gone. The entire biological structure had seemingly vanished, leaving behind a hollow abyss. 

"Fix it," Luther ordered. He was trying to sound stern, like their father did when he announced a new mission, but there was the unmistakable tone of desperation laced within his words. "That's your power, isn't it? Your only contribution to this team," he seethed, the tears beginning to fall. 

Eight felt like the ground was gonna swallow her whole; everyone was looking at her, counting on her to fix it, and she knew there was nothing she could do. She could only heal what was there, and there wasn't enough of Ben left to heal. 

Futilely, she checked his pulse, knowing there was no way he could have a heartbeat without a heart. 

"I... i c-can't... he's gone..." Eight stared at the floor, too ashamed to face her siblings. 

Allison sobbed into Klaus' shoulder. Diego promptly ran up the stairs and slammed his bedroom door shut loud enough for the whole neighbourhood to hear. 

There was an uncomfortable silence as everyone stared at the lifeless body of their brother on the hallway floor. 

"This is your fault," Luther finally spoke. 

"W-what?" Eight gasped. 

"I said," Luther took a step forward, and Five instinctively moved closer between them. "This is your fault!" 

"Back off, Luther." Five put himself in front of Eight, his hand found hers and squeezed reassuringly. 

"No," Luther replied, petulantly. "That's her only power, and she let us down. She let Ben down. All she does is make things worse!" 

Five's jaw tightened. "You're upset, I get it. We all are. But this isn't helping anyone." 

Luther scoffed. "Like she'd know anything about that." 

Five's grip on Eight's hand grew tighter, and his other hand closed into a fist. "This is your last warning, Luther." 

Luther let out a hollow laugh. "Go on, then. Defend your stupid little girlfrien-" 

Number Eight cried out as Five did something he had never done before; he raised his hand to his brother. Number Eight felt sick at the sound of Five's hand connecting with Luther's jaw. Allison had stopped crying, and Klaus was frozen with shock. 

Luther brought his hand to his lips and was shocked to see that Five had made him bleed. Luther was about to retaliate when there was the sudden sound of footsteps descending the stairs. 

Reginald entered the room calmly, entirely unmoved by the carnage that surrounded him. 

"Children," he began, sternly. 

The siblings all exchanged nervous looks. Oh fuck. 

The morning after Ben's funeral, Number Eight was woken by the sound of the drapes being drawn, and the blinding sunshine obnoxiously illuminating her room. 

Slowly, her eyes adjusted to the brightness. Reginald stood beside her bed, looking down his nose at her through his monocle with his cold, unfeeling eyes. 

"Get up. We're going on an outing." 

Reluctantly, Number Eight got herself washed and ready and met Reginald at the bottom of the stairs. 

"I didn't know we were going out?" Vanya enquired from over the upstairs bannister. 

"Don't you have a violin lesson to attend, Number Seven?" Reginald cooly replied. 

Number Eight immediately knew something was wrong when Reginald took her to the doughnut shop a few blocks west from the academy. In her fourteen years of living, she had never known Reginald to buy a treat for any of the kids. When he pushed the jelly donut across the booth table, she stared at it uneasily. He did not order anything for himself, he merely sat there, studying her intently. 

Finally, she broke the silence. "What's going on?"

"It has come to my attention, Number Eight, that your... relationship, for want of a better word, with Number Five has continued against my wishes." 

Number Eight sank into her chair. This couldn't be good. 

"You and your silly schoolgirl fantasies have undermined the very impetus of this academy. There's also the matter of your failure to resuscitate Number Six. You're a liability, Number Eight. I'm afraid you've left me no choice..." 

Reginald reached across the table and tore the umbrella locket Five had given her for her birthday from her neck. 

"What are you doing?" She gasped. "Give that back now!" 

He ignored her protests, placing the locket in the inner pocket of his coat. 

Number Eight banged her fist on the table, causing several other customers to look over in alarm. "That's mine, you have no right to take it!" 

"You are not worthy of neither the academy nor the symbol it bears." He replied, coolly. "You are hereby expelled from the Umbrella Academy, effective immediately." 

She felt like she was about to be sick. There was no way this could be happening. "You can't just kick me out..." 

"Can't I?" Reginald snorted. "Your behaviour with Five is unacceptable. Number Five is an invaluable asset to the academy. He is coming on leaps and bound with his spatial jumps, both literally and figuratively. He's not even begun to reach the limit of his powers, whereas your limits were quite clearly defined only days ago, vis-a-vis your complete incompetence with Number Six."

Number Eight couldn't hold the tears in any longer and began openly sobbing. She couldn't believe what was happening, what her life had become. She had just lost her brother, now she was losing her home, her family, and worst of all, Five. 

Unmoved by her tears, Reginald continued. "In comparison to Number Five, you are nothing more than a glorified nurse. You are disposable, Number Eight. Number Five is not." 

Her despair was sudden replaced by white hot rage. How could he treat her like this, his own child? 

"What makes you think I won't just find Five again, or that he won't find me?" She said, arms crossed against her chest in defiance. 

"You children! Always failing to see the good in the things that I do. You realise how easy it would be for me to have our dear little rumour convince you that you'd never even met him? I'm letting you leave now with your memories still intact. I suggest you accept my generous offer and never return before I change my mind." 

"You're bluffing." She scoffed. Was he? Would Allison really do that? She hadn't said much to her since Ben, but... 

Reginald leaned across the table and fixed her with a steely glare. "Do you really want to find out just how serious I am?" 

Realising that he was in fact completely serious, Number Eight realised there was absolutely nothing she could do. 

Reginald sighed as he got up out of his seat. "Farewell, Number Eight." He languidly tossed a crumpled up five dollar bill onto the table to pay for the donut. "Keep the change." 

Mouth agape, she turned around in her seat to watch him as he walked out of the diner and out of her life forever. 

"Number Eight? We're back." Five called out into the empty hall of the academy. 

Huh, he thought to himself. That's odd.

Bemused by her lack of a response, he climbed the stairs, assuming she was simply busy in her room, but was halted by an anxious looking Grace hovering by the other side of the banister. 

"Why don't you let me take a look at that, honey?" Grace reached out to touch the wound in his side, but Five sharply withdrew his hand. 

"Are you kidding?" He scoffed. "I'll just go see Eight." He said with a shrug, pushing past his mother toward the door to Number Eight's room. 

"I really think you should let me look at it." The blonde woman persisted, now stood protectively in front of the entrance to the room. 

"I want Number Eight to fix it, Mom." He spoke tersely, trying to remain patient with her. 

He noticed that she looked somewhat... guilty? Which was odd, considering he'd never seen an expression on her face that was not outright chipper or doting. He had to wonder what could possibly have happened to make a robot feel so bad. 

Eventually he overpowered Grace and gained access to Eight's room. 

The thing that stuck out most in Five's mind in that moment was the bunny on the bed; Eight would sleep with that stuffed toy every single night, it'd been that way ever since he could remember. Her pink hairbrush was on the nightstand. All of her favourite CDs were exactly where they had been the night before. The chair in the corner even had freshly washed clothes dumped on it; she'd been too lazy to put them away. At the top of the pile was her cream cardigan, the one five had always said she looked particularly sweet in. 

All of these things, left behind. The only proof he had that she had ever existed, that what they'd had together was real. 

But what hurt the most was the silver locket abandoned on her dressing table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> author's note; hope you guys enjoyed today's update, it's a bit longer than usual. This does deviate from canon slightly in that canonically Ben's death actually happens after Five disappears, and the exact cause isn't ever discussed. Whereas in my fic Ben dies before Five leaves, and the details of Ben's death are eventually revealed. For Ben's cause of death I actually took inspiration from the comics, specifically hotel oblivion. It'll be explained in more detail in later chapters.


	7. part seven;

Juliet set two mugs down on the coffee table carefully. Five sat on the edge of the couch, his hands in his lap with an unreadable expression on his face.

Juliet tentatively sat next to him on the couch. She placed her hand on his thigh and gave it a reassuring squeeze, hoping he would react. 

"Five, please say something." She said, quietly. 

Five cleared his throat. "You got anything stronger?" He asked, gesturing to the mugs of coffee. 

Juliet stood up from the couch and went to the kitchen to fetch a bottle of vodka from the drinks cabinet. 

"Will this do?" She stood in the doorway holding the bottle of vodka and two small glasses aloft. 

Five smiled and nodded, though the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. 

Juliet placed the two small glasses next to the mugs on the coffee table. She unscrewed the cap from the bottle and poured a small amount into each glass. 

She raised her glass. "Na zdarovje." 

Juliet only took a small sip from her glass but she still couldn't help but grimace slightly at the way the alcohol burned down her throat. Five downed the entire glass in one go like it was water. 

"That bastard's lucky he's dead." Five grumbled. 

Juliet sighed and sank down onto the couch. "Look, it's over now." She took his face in his hands and stared deeply into his eyes. "Reginald's dead. We're both here." 

In that moment, Five almost believed that everything was over, and that they were gonna be okay. But, of course, life is never that easy. 

Juliet started to panic when Five stood up and turned to face the window. "There's a few things I have to do first." 

Juliet's heart sank. "Now?" She asked, her voice much smaller than she had intended. She wasn't ready for Five to leave again. "It can't wait till morning?" 

Five hesitated. He saw the hope twinkling behind her eyes and couldn't find it in him to turn her down. 

"Sure," he smiled. 

Juliet's face broke out into a wide grin. Five stumbled slightly as she threw her arms around his neck. 

"I missed you," Juliet whispered. 

Five buried his face in her hair and breathed in deeply. "I missed you too," 

  
Juliet awoke that morning with a start. For a brief moment she worried that yesterday was all a strange dream, and that Five was still gone. 

"Ugh, what time is it?" A croaky voice beside her asked. Juliet looked over to the other side of the bed and breathed a sigh of relief to see that Five was still there.

They had spent a little while lying on her bed last night, reminiscing about times gone by. Five confessed that he had tried to go back in time to stop her before she left the academy, but had gotten the calculations wrong, and gotten stuck in the future instead. He wouldn't tell her what the future was like though, insisting that no one could know without endangering the timeline.

They had fallen asleep at some point on top of the covers with their clothes still on.

Juliet checked the clock by her bed to answer Five's question and was alarmed to see it was 10 o'clock in the morning.

"Jesus!" She exclaimed. "I'm late for work!"

Memories of last night's attack came rushing back to her. "Oh my god, work... I've gotta see Agnes!"

She slipped off the bed and starting stumbling around the bedroom searching for her shoes.

"You can't go back there."

Juliet dropped the heeled shoe she was holding. "Why not?"

Five looked at her as though the answer was obvious. "Because they might come back."

"And who are they, exactly?" Juliet placed her hands on her hips. "Y'know, last night you said you'd tell me everything."

Five walked over to her dressing table and adjusted his tie in the mirror. "I said I'd tell you everything you need to know."

Juliet cocked an eyebrow. "And?"

"And you don't need to know about them." Five replied. "Trust me."

Juliet sighed. "I do trust you, Five. More than anyone else in the world. But if you won't let me see Agnes, you have to at least tell me why."

Five shoved his hands in his pockets as he thought it over. Suddenly, he had a eureka moment.

"I know," he said. "I'll tell you who those people who tried to kill me are, if you help me with this."

Five produced from his pocket what looked to be a human eye. Juliet looked closer and saw that it was merely a prosthetic. She reached out to touch it, and he placed it in the palm of her hand.

"What do you need help with?" She asked, rolling it around in her hand. She saw that on the back of the eye there was a company name and serial number.

"It's a long story, but the short version is something... big is about to happen in the coming days, and it's of the utmost importance that I find out who this eye belongs to."

Juliet cocked her head to the side. "You could just ask Diego or someone to help you."

What use am I gonna be? she thought to herself.

Five slung his jacket over his shoulders. "Like I said, it's important, and I've decided you're the only one I can trust."

Juliet smiled. "Then I guess we'd better get going then."

Juliet checked her watch with a sigh. They had been waiting in the lobby for over twenty minutes and they still hadn't been seen by anyone.

"How important is this eye again?" She asked.

Five crossed his arms as he leaned up against the lobby room wall. "Incomprehensibly important."

"Yeah, that's what I thought." She sighed.

Finally, after another five minutes or so, a man in a white coat appeared from one of the adjoining offices.

"How can I help you kids?"

"We found this," Five began, presenting the prosthetic to the man. "We wanna return it to its rightful owner."

"Aww," the receptionist cooed. "What a considerate young man."

The man in the white coat reached out to take it from him, but Five instinctively held it closer to his chest.

"Where did you find that?" The man asked.

"At a playground, actually. Guess it must've just... popped out." Five smiled sardonically.

Juliet rolled her eyes; she could tell already that this approach wasn't going to work.

The other man laughed awkwardly. "Yes, well. I'm afraid that I can't tell you who it belongs to because of patient confidentiality. That means-"

"I know what it means." Five replied, tersely.

The man eyed Five suspiciously. "Anyhow, I'd be happy to take it off your hands and reunite it with its owner myself."

Juliet could tell that Five was beginning to grow frustrated, and decided to step in.

"Please excuse my brother." She said in her most pleasant voice. It was the one she usually reserved for serving customers when she really needed tips. "May we speak privately in your office, Mr...?"

"Dr. Munroe, please." He smiled, giving Juliet a once over. Five couldn't help but clench his fists.

"Well... lead the way, Doctor." Juliet giggled.

Dr Munroe hesitated initially, but when Juliet batted her eyelashes at him it was over.

When his back was turned, Five glances over at Juliet uneasily.

_Brother?_ He mouthed.

_Just trust me_ she mouthed back.

Dr Munroe led them down a short corridor before stopping in front of his office door. 

"Ladies first." He extended his arm out towards the threshold. 

Juliet sauntered past him and sat down in a chair across from his desk. Dr Munroe quickly sat down at the other side, while Five chose to stand closely behind Juliet's chair. 

"Now," Dr Munroe folded his hands on the table. "As I was explaining before-"

"Is this your wife?" 

Juliet didn't wait for his answer before picking up the framed photo on his desk to take a closer look. "Aww, she's pretty." 

Dr Munroe laughed, uneasily. "Yes, well... as I was saying, I'm afraid we can't give out patient information without said patient's consent, sweetheart." 

"But we can't get consent if you don't give us a name!" Five replied, tersely. 

Juliet decided to change tactics. 

"And what about... my consent?" She asked, waveringly. 

Dr Munroe's expression turned stour. "What about it?"

"Well... who gave you permission to proposition me like that? I mean really, offering private client information in exchange for sex!" She gasped in mock horror. 

“But I didn’t!” Dr Munroe frowned. "This is insane, I am calling security!" 

"Oh sure, call 'em. Security are gonna rush upstairs and what are they gonna find? A middle aged man and his twenty-something fling. What would Hillary say?" She asked, gesturing to the photo on the desk. 

"M-my wife's name is Karen."

"Whatever," Juliet scoffed. "Just give us a damn name and I won't tell your wife a thing." 

Dr Munroe sighed. "You're a real bitch, you know that?" 

Juliet put her hand to her chest. "Thank you!"

Although her methods were somewhat morally ambiguous, Five couldn't deny that they got results, and he couldn't help but feel proud of her. 

Dr Munroe led them to another room where the patient files were kept. He rifled through a metal cabinet until he found the serial number that matched Five's prosthetic eye.

"That can't be right..." Dr Munroe mumbled to himself. 

"What?" Five asked, impatiently. 

"The eye hasn't been purchased by a client yet. It's not even been manufactured..." 

Juliet gave him a confused look. "Is that even possible? You better not be playing us, Doc. Remember, Karen's only a phone call away." 

Five snatched the files from Dr Monroe's hands to check that he was indeed telling the truth. "Shit." 

"I've had enough of this. You've got your answer, now would you please leave?" Dr Munroe tapped his foot against the floor, impatiently. 

Five sighed in defeat. "Come on, Juliet." He said, pulling her away from the filing room. 

"Thanks for all your help, Doctor." Juliet said, sarcastically. 

As they were a few paces away from the exit, Juliet turned around to see if the doctor was still there. 

"Hey!" She shouted. Dr Munroe looked up at her, quizzically. 

"What the hell are yo-"

Juliet grabbed Five by the lapels and kissed him passionately. Dr Munroe looked on in shock and disgust. 

It took Five a few moments to regain his breath after Juliet released him, and he couldn't help but laugh. 

"You're kinda evil, you know that?" 

"Well, I never was a very good superhero..." Juliet smiled, sadly. "Do you think he was trying to fob us off?" 

Five's expression turned serious. "Oh, I know he was."


	8. part eight;

Five swore loudly as his foot connected with the exterior of the building. “Motherfucker!”

Juliet crossed her arms against her chest. “Are you done yet?” 

Five abruptly turned on his heel and marched off down the street. 

“Hey!” Juliet called out, running after him. She eventually caught up with him and grabbed him by the arm. “Seriously Five, what is the deal with this eye? Is it really that important?” 

Five hesitated; he had no idea how he was supposed to explain this to her. He took her hand in his own. Her hand was smaller than his, not as coarse either. She instinctively rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb, a habit from way back when. Gently, he led her away from the busy sidewalk and to a nearby bench. He sat silently for a moment, choosing his words carefully. 

“The future,” he began, his hands in his lap. 

“Something big happens, doesn’t it? Something you’ve come back to stop.” She held the prosthetic eye in her hand, turning it over in her palm thoughtfully. 

Five glanced over at her, uneasily. “I have to. For you, for us.” His gaze then fell upon two nearby kids cycling past on their brightly coloured bikes. “For everybody.” 

Five sighed heavily. “Something happens in the next few days, and it has something to do with that eye. I _need_ to find it’s owner. Everything depends on it.” 

Juliet felt her stomach sink; he was really serious about this, and she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. He hadn’t said it outright, but she knew what he was talking about. She always had, ever since they were kids. “It’s the end, isn’t it?” She said, her voice barely above a whisper. 

“Hey, look at me.” Five grabbed her hand like his life depended on it. “I’m going to stop it, I promise you.” 

Juliet looked at him; his jaw was set, his eyes were determined. All though she knew logically she should be afraid, she knew that if anyone could stop the apocalypse it would be him. 

“I’m going to save the world, and then I’m going to marry you.” 

Juliet’s breath hitched in her throat; did he really just...? 

“Don’t say stuff you don’t mean, Five.” Juliet warned him, barely holding back her tears. 

Five lightly brushed away the few stray tears that has escaped from her glistening eyes. “Eight, I’ve known you were the one since we were eleven years old.”

Juliet couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. Five was proposing to her on a random park bench, mere days before the apocalypse, while she held a stranger’s prosthetic eye in her hand. “I don’t get a ring?” 

“I’m going to ask you properly once I’ve stopped the apocalypse from happening.” He assured her. 

He gently eased the eye out of her grip, and pocketed it as he stood up from his place on the bench. “There’s some stuff I gotta do. _Dangerous_ stuff.” 

“I get it.” Juliet said, lifting herself off the bench with a sigh. “Too dangerous for me, right?” 

Five ran his hand through his hair. “It’s not like that, you know it’s not.” 

Juliet knew what he meant, but it still hurt that after everything that had happened, especially with Dr Munroe, that he still didn’t think she was capable of handling herself. 

“You’ll come back right? If I leave now and go home... you’ll be there tonight?” 

Five held his hand out in front of his face, and gargled for a moment before spitting into his palm. He offered her his hand with a childish smirk on his face. Juliet initially grimaced, but she never was any good at denying him. She tried to spit into her hand as gracefully as was physically possible, but alas. The promise was made. 

“I’ll see you tonight, Eight.” He called out over his shoulder. With a flash of blue light, he was gone, and so was Juliet’s sense of security. 

She began the brief walk home. She was thankful her apartment was only a few blocks away; the past 24 hours had been the most stressful she’d had in a long while. 

_The apocalypse is coming,_ she thought to herself, _At least it can’t get any worse, right?_

Her apartment complex was in full view when a hand emerged from a dark crevice beside the sidewalk, and gripped her mouth so tightly she barely had time to register what was happening before she completely lost all consciousness. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, sorry I haven’t updated for a while and for the shortness of this chapter, but I’ve been re-writing the ending, and it turns out it’s gonna be a few chapters longer than I originally intended so that’s cool! hope you like :-)


	9. part nine;

In the immediate hours following her capture, there were but a few brief moments in which Juliet was conscious. She knew she had to have been drugged, because every time she willed herself to wake up, there was a stronger part of her that wanted to stay asleep. She briefly opened her eyes to see a stranger in a cartoon mask, and again later on she saw the same masked person having a heated conversation on a telephone. In those brief moments of consciousness, the pain radiating through her body was unbearable to the point where she didn't want to be alive, let alone awake.

On her fourth attempt to wake up, she finally came to. "W-where... where am I?" 

She could feel her hands were handcuffed behind her back, and her torso was tied to the chair that she sat in. Her whole body felt sore, and she shuddered to think what had happened to her while she was knocked out. 

She tried to assess her surroundings. She appeared to be in a motel room, a cheap one at that. Seedy. The kind you find by the roadside. The kind murderers and weirdos hung out in. Moonlight filtered through the blinds and illuminated some of the room, while the other half was blanketed in darkness.

A figure emerged from the shadows and Juliet felt a cold chill slither up her spine. 

"You're awake." The voice said. It sounded female. "You feel much like talking?" 

Juliet gritted her teeth. "Don't feel much like doing anything since you drugged me." 

A hand sharply connected with the side of her face; she feel blood trickle down her cheek where the skin had been torn by the stranger's ring. 

"How about now?" 

Juliet felt a wave of dizziness and nausea overcome her. She leant over the side of the chair and vomited violently onto the carpet. 

The masked stranger did not react; they kept their demeanour calm and collected. 

"What do you want from me?" Juliet asked, weakly. "I'm just a waitress." 

"You're not just a waitress, though, are you?" The stranger laughed, sardonically. "You're a Hargreeves." 

"Haven't been for a long time. Whatever it is you want with them, I assure you I can't help you." 

The stranger tilted their head to the side, as though they were assessing her. "That's the second lie you've told me."

Juliet started to squirm, struggled against her bonds. "I haven't lied, I swear." 

The stranger tutted at her like she was some naughty schoolgirl, which changed Juliet's fear into righteous anger. No one had made her feel like that since she was fourteen, she was damned if she was gonna let anyone do that to her again. 

"You see, I followed you to that lab you went to. I saw you and Number Five. So tell me again how you have nothing to do with that family, only this time try to be more convincing." 

Juliet cried out as the stranger struck her again, this time in the gut. The punch left her winded, and gasping for breath. 

They leant down to her level, and she tried to shy away. "I know you know about Five's plan. Tell me what it is so I can stop it or I swear to god, I will kill you." Juliet shuddered as they whispered into her ear, their breath hot on her neck.

“Juliet? Hello?” 

Five knocked on her apartment door, anxiously. He knew it was late, and it occurred to him that Juliet could be mad; it had definitely taken him longer than he had intended to chase leads on that stupid prosthetic eye. 

_What a waste of time that was,_ he thought to himself. 

“Look, I’m sorry I’m so late. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” He pleaded through her front door, to no avail. 

“Screw this,” he mumbled to himself. 

A flash of blue light illuminated her dark, empty apartment. 

“I said I was sorry!” He called out. Still no answer. 

Growing increasingly worried, he checked the bedroom to find it exactly as they had left it that morning. The bathroom was also empty too. It didn’t seem as though she had come home at all. So what stopped her? Or rather, who? 

“I told you, I don’t know anything!” Juliet cried out, desperately. She’d never been in so much physical pain, and the fear was starting to get the better of her. 

“How can I believe that when you’ve lied to me so many times already?” The stranger asked. 

“He wouldn’t tell me his plan! He doesn’t think I’m strong enough to deal with it, I never have been! I was never a part of the team, please just-!” 

The stranger landed another blow that made Juliet’s vision spin. Juliet could tell that they were starting to get impatient. They began pacing up and down the motel room. 

“So if what I’m hearing is correct, you’re just as useless to me as your junkie brother Klaus.” 

Juliet’s heart lurched in her chest at the mention of her long lost brother. “Klaus? What have you done to Klaus?” She angrily demanded. 

Five drove the short distance from Juliet’s apartment, speeding erratically and unnecessarily to his childhood home. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel; it was entirely possible that the Commission now knew of her existence, and if one of their cronies had her, she was in serious danger. Five knew that she couldn’t handle herself either, she was never trained in combat like the rest of the Academy was. He parked hastily and haphazardly, slamming the car door shut behind him, taking the outside steps two at a time. 

“Klaus!” He called out in the foyer. “Klaus, get your ass down here, damn it.” 

After a few moments, a weary looking Klaus appeared at the top of the staircase clutching his head with one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. “Could you maybe lower your voice a little?” He said, wincing. 

“Klaus, I need your help.” 

Klaus took a tentative sip of wine. “Is it the apocalypse?” 

“It way more important than that,” Five said. “It’s Number Eight.” 


	10. part ten;

"Are you sure it's Number Eight?"

Number Five sighed; this was the fifth time Diego had asked him that question. "I told you, her name's Juliet now," he replied, tersely. "And yes, I'm sure." 

Steering wildly and abruptly, Five pulled off of the main road and into the parking lot of the motel Klaus had directed him to. 

Klaus leaned forward from his seat in the back of the car to get a closer look. "Yep, this is definitely the place. I vividly remember vomiting on that street corner there." 

Five assessed the grim surroundings. "Well, it definitely looks like one of Cha Cha's haunts." 

"What does she want with us anyway?" Diego asked. He twirled his knife in his hand absent-mindedly as he leaned against the passenger side door. 

"Nothing, it's me she wants. You guys just got caught in the cross fire." 

Five looked in the rear view mirror and saw Klaus with his tattooed palm in the air. "How did-" 

"Look," Five began,"I get that you guys have questions, and I promise I'll answer them all at some point. But Juliet is in that building with a highly trained assassin and I can't do fucking anything for anyone until I know that she's okay and that she's safe." 

Diego held his hands up in surrender as a stunned silence permeated throughout the car. Five got out of the car, slamming the door with more force than was necessary, which his brothers took as their cue to follow suit. 

They approached the hotel in relative silence; even Klaus managed to be somewhat stealthy. Klaus quietly motioned to the motel room he'd been held in. Five pulled out a hand gun from the inside pocket of his suit jacket. He opened the chamber to check the ammunition before snapping it shut again. Diego readied his knives; Klaus whispered something unintelligible to the empty air around them. 

Five took a deep breath, checking his brothers were ready, and then with one sharp kick he broke down the flimsy motel room door. 

Five's eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness in the room; immediately his eyes were drawn to Juliet, slumped forward, unconscious in a chair. Her arms behind her back, she was bound to the chair by rope. He could see where bruises had already begun to form and he felt his blood simmer. He then quickly identified the other figure in the room as his ex-colleague, Cha Cha, just as he had suspected. 

“Hazel not with you?” Five raised his gun and pointed it at Cha Cha. 

Cha Cha visibly bristled at the mention of Hazel. 

"Look, we can do this the easy way..." Cha Cha spoke, gun in hand as slowly approached the trio. 

Five scoffed. "You kidnapped my girlfriend, there is no easy way out of this one, Cha Cha." 

"I knew it!" Klaus exclaimed. 

Diego rolled his eyes and punched Klaus lightly in the arm. 

“Ow!”

"Just hand the girl over and no one needs to get hurt." Diego offered, in an attempt to take charge. 

It was Cha Cha's turn to scoff. "You expect me to believe that?" 

"Butt out of this, Diego!" Five hissed. 

"If you didn't want my help, why did you ask me to come along?" Diego retorted. 

Five pinched the bridge of his nose, and willed himself to not lose his cool. "Because I had this insane idea that you might actually be useful for once!" 

_Psst!_

"Jesus!" Klaus swore to himself, practically jumping out of his skin at the sound of Ben whispering in his ear. "I totally forgot you were there." 

Ben looked over his shoulder to make sure Cha Cha hadn't noticed Klaus seemingly talking to himself. Thankfully, her eyes were firmly upon Five and Diego as she impatiently waited for the two brothers to cease their bickering. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he began revealing his plan to Klaus. 

"Look, I've been practicing and-" 

"Why are you whispering?" Klaus interrupted. 

"I was thinking- wait, what?" 

"Why are you whispering?" Klaus repeated himself. "I'm the only one who can hear you." 

"Ohh yeah!" Ben laughed, before quickly remembering the urgency of the situation they were in. "Anyways, I've been practicing and I think I could untie the rope around Eight's body. Then all you'd have to do is sneak around and grab her." 

Klaus pondered his brother's words for a moment. He shrugged his shoulders. "That sounds like a terrible idea, but it beats waiting around for these two to get themselves shot." 

Ben nodded gravely, and leapt into action. Klaus watched his brother, his form illuminated with blue light. Ben stared at his hands, willing himself to manifest into the physical world. He knew he couldn’t hold it for long, but he was determined to hold out for as long as possible, until he knew his sister was safe. 

Ben’s concentration paid off, and Klaus watched the blue fade from his hands. Ben then set about untying the rope around Eight’s torso. His fingers worked quickly and haphazardly. Juliet began to stir slightly at the feeling of hands brushing against her arms and the rope around her body loosening. 

Ben stood tall, proud of his work, beaming at his brother with pride. Klaus returned his smile with a sly thumbs up. 

Five and Diego were somehow still bickering, but Klaus knew that Cha Cha was on the verge of losing her patience with them, so he had a very small window of opportunity to snatch Number Eight. 

Klaus bent down low, hiding behind his brothers. He awkwardly crawled on his hands and knees beside the end of the motel bed, hoping the footboard would provide some cover. When he was sure he was out of Cha Cha’s sight, he stood up again, and lifted up Juliet with a grunt, and placing her over his shoulder. 

“F-five?” Juliet stirred in his grasp. 

“You’re heavier than I remember.” Klaus replied quietly, his voice strained. 

Without warning, Cha Cha whipped around fast as lightning with her gun pointed at the duo. “You think I’m an idiot?” 

Klaus laughed awkwardly. “Oh boy, well... hey, what’s that?” 

Klaus pointed to a spot in the distance. Cha Cha instinctively turned to look and when she did Five shot her square in the shoulder. 

She swore loudly as the force of the blast made her stumble backwards into the bed, her gun slipping from her hand and tumbling to the floor. 

Klaus bolted through the door, closely followed by his brothers. They were within distance of the car when another shot rang out; Cha Cha had used her last ounce of strength to drag her body to the doorway and fire. With this last effort, she collapsed across the threshold. 

Klaus fell forward onto the rough concrete floor of the parking lot. The impact of the fall was hard enough to wake Juliet from her stupor. Now alert, she scrambled around on the harsh asphalt, trying to get her bearings. 

“Klaus! It’s really you, Klaus!” She exclaimed, once her eyesight had adjusted. 

“Oh Christ...” Klaus groaned, clutching his left leg. 

“Klaus, come on! We have to leave!” Five spoke, imploringly. He tried to help his brother to his feet but Klaus stumbled and fell to the floor again. 

“His leg! He’s been fucking shot!” Diego cried. 

Juliet’s mouth opened in horror once she saw the blood rushing out of Klaus’ leg where the bullet had torn through his flesh. Instinctively, she wanted to reach over and heal him, but her hands were still handcuffed behind her back. 

“Get him in the car!” Five shouted. 

Five grabbed Klaus by the arms and dragged him toward the car. Diego ran ahead and opened the backseat door. Hastily, they managed to get his slumped over frame into the backseat, followed closely by Juliet. 

Five didn’t waste any time in slamming his foot on the accelerator and speeding away from the motel. 

As Five sharply turned a corner, Klaus’ body limply fell into Juliet’s lap. 

“It’s gonna be okay, Klaus.” She whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, sorry it’s been a while since I last updated, I’ve been having some personal issues. I’m back now tho and the end is nigh for this story!!


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